THE ROAD TO THE GOOD LIFE (2 OF 2)

The Road to the Good Life (2 of 2)
Ed Rowell
Surviving the Influence of Affluence
1 Timothy 6:17-19

Walking through the mall
The number of SUVs for sale in the paper this week.

The evolution of the "American Dream"
- To escape poverty—the land of opportunity
- To own your own home—after WW2 became a reality for millions thanks to new financing options.
- To own 2 new cars—and along the way, the need for 2 incomes
- Today—to have it all and have it right now—if it means amassing unreasonable amounts of debt. The American dream has become a carrot on a stick, always dangling just out of reach, always pulling us along faster and faster until we collapse from exhaustion, only to rise again later and keep on running and running and running.

We call this "living the good life."

In their best-selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko discovered in their research that many people who live the so-called good life, living in expensive homes and drive luxury cars do not actually have much wealth. Because, they explain, "wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend." We have become a nation, not of savers, but of consumers. As our appetite for consumption has grown, not only are we not saving for our retirement, we have become negligent in investing in God's economy.

Jesus said, in Matthew 6:19-34 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The lies of "The American Dream"

The American Dream has become the American nightmare. We have become unable to discern the inherent lies of it, choosing to believe, at least o ...

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